I'm stumped. :/ Also, I had a question: Does aliasing (I think that's what it's called; what I'm talking about is how the program creates lighter colors around your lines to make the smooth) count towards color count? If I don't use it, my designs look blocky.
Anyway, that would count toward your colors. If you want really smooth lines, use a vector program, or work in 300 DPI. You have to submit a lower resolution image as your sample.
Anyway, I wouldn't go about fishing for ideas. If someone thought of something, they would have done it themselves already.